Sonoma County CA Archives History - Books .....Roads And Highways 1877
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 24, 2006, 5:11 pm

Book Title: Historical And Descriptive Sketch Of Sonoma County, California

ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

   Sonoma county covers a large area of territory. In the mountains, a number of
large streams rise, flow across the plains, or through the valleys, to
tide-water, emptying either into the Pacific ocean or into the bay of San Pablo.
At least three estuaries lead inland, two of them forming, at high tide,
navigable streams. One of the inland streams (Russian river) has its source in
the high mountains of Mendocino, more than one hundred miles from its mouth,
draining an immense territory. In winter, during the wet season, this is a very
bold stream. With so large a scope of country, traversed by so many streams, the
matter of building roads and bridges was, from the organization of the county,
of great importance and great expense. With the exception of the subsidy voted
by the people to the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, and twenty
thousand dollars bonds for a recorder's office, the whole indebtedness of the
county comes from the building of roads and highways. We now propose to give the
reader an idea of the approximate cost of the public roads, number of miles of
roads, number of bridges, and their cost by townships.

   Analy township—miles of road, 111; bridges, 131; cost of bridges,$27,000;
culverts, 275; cost, $2,439.

   Bodega township—miles of road, 46; bridges, 50; cost, $5,091.

   Cloverdale township—miles of road, 35; bridges, 11; cost, $6,125; culverts,
37; cost, $305.

   Knight's Valley township—miles of road, 22; bridges, 15; cost, $745;
culverts, 13; cost, $78.

   Mendocino township—miles of road, 81; in this township Russian river is
bridged twice; cost of bridges, $31,450; cost of culverts, $1,000.

   Petaluma township—miles of road, 80; bridges, 82; cost, $8,652; culverts,
312; cost, $2,218.

   Russian River township—miles of road, 64; bridges, 47; cost, $3,212. There
are, also, on the line of this township four bridges across Mark West creek
which cost $6,700; culverts, 75; cost, $750.

   Redwood township—miles of road, 27; bridges, 30; cost, $1,748; culverts, 19;
cost, $599.

   Sonoma township—miles of road, 80; bridges, 2; cost, $9,900; culverts and
small bridges, 208; cost, $4,028.

   Ocean township—miles of road, 30; bridges, 14; cost, $4,050; culverts, 60;
cost, $600.

   Salt Point township—miles of road, 44; bridges, 43; cost, $5,700; culverts,
72; cost, $575.

   Vallejo township—miles of road, 55; bridges, 10; cost, $3,000; culverts, 30;
cost, $200.

   Washington township—miles of road, 11; bridges, 8; cost, $540; culverts, 14;
cost, $104.

   Santa Rosa township—miles of road, 146; bridges, 115; cost, $32,850;
culverts, 224; cost, $4,500.

   Recapitulation: Total number of miles of road, 832; number of bridges, 629;
cost of bridges, $130,940; culverts, 1,524; cost, $18,422. Total cost of all
bridges and culverts in the county, $149,783.

   Many of these bridges have been repeatedly washed away, and were repaired at
a cost as great, or greater, than their present value; add to that the expense
of grading, filling up, and making the road-bed for nearly two hundred miles,
and some idea of the outlay on our highways may be formed.

   The roads each year improve; road-building goes constantly on, and will not
be discontinued until every portion of the country is easily accessible.

   There are but two toll-roads in the county, and both are through its
mountainous sections, and lead to the Geysers. These roads are not traveled to
any extent except by those whose object is recreation, curiosity, or pleasure,
and, as they are generally persons who can afford to pay, the burden of keeping
the road to the Geysers in repair is very properly shifted to their shoulders.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORICAL
AND
DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH
OF
SONOMA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
BY
ROBERT A. THOMPSON,
EDITOR OF "THE SONOMA DEMOCRAT."
PHILADELPHIA:
L. H. EVERTS & CO. 
1877.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sonoma/history/1877/historic/roadsand324nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/

File size: 4.6 Kb